Chihuahua Poodle Mix information,Images and Video

Chihuahua poodle mix is not a purebred dog and like most designer dogs, it is generally referred to by the portmanteau name of Chipoo. Other less popular names of the Chihuahua poodle mix are Choodle and Wapoo.

There is a difference between purebred dogs and designer dogs like the Chipoo. Purebreds are dogs that have been bred over a long period of time to the point where a particular breed’s makeup is well known and predictable. For instance, a Chihuahua and a poodle are both purebred and therefore you know how big the pups will grow to be, the looks, the sort of care and training, the temperament, whether it’s good for herding, guarding, sporting, hunting.

On the other hand designer dogs like the Chipoo are relatively new and you cannot be certain how a particular pup will turn out even pups from the same litter. Their general makeup is determined by their parent breeds and it is difficult to tell which of the parent breed will be dominant and in which aspect of a particular pup’s life.

While most designer dogs of the same cross breed will generally look alike and share a lot of in common this is not guarantee and a particular pup may turn out differently. To get a good handle on a particular cross breed like a Chipoo, one must have a decent knowledge of the parent breeds.

So the care and handling for any of the parent breeds will equally work for the designer dog. Simply by identifying the dominant parent breed in a particular area of the cross breed’s life e.g. feeding, training, grooming etc. and then applying the solution for the parent breed to the designer dog like a Chipoo.

What this also means is that before the acquisition of a designer dog one should first check out the parent breeds in the cross and advisably should only proceed if one is thoroughly satisfied with the parent breeds. This is because you could end up with any combination of the characteristics and/or temperament of the parent breeds.

The Chihuahua poodle mix is usually bred using short coated Chihuahua as the male parent (sire) and the toy or miniature poodle (dam) as the female parent. Chihuahua comes in either short or long coat but the short coat is the most popular while the poodle comes in three different sizes: the toy (the smallest), the miniature (bigger than the toy) and the standard poodle which was actually bred down to the miniature and the toy poodle. Three different sizes yet one breed.

It is better to use the poodle as the female parent because it’s easier for her to carry the pregnancy and also with a better chance of safe delivery because of its bigger size compared with the Chihuahua which is the smallest dog breed in the world.

The Chihuahua poodle mix usually have either the erect ears of the Chihuahua or the fallen long ears of the poodle. One of the main reason for the craze in the world for designer dogs is because lots of people believe that cross breeds are healthier than purebred, while this is largely true it is not 100% true.

In the case of cross breeding that involves the poodle, one great additional reason for cross breeding is to produce dogs that are low “shedders” and hypoallergenic (i.e. the non shedding nature of poodle or a cross of it does not cause allergic reaction and therefore one of the best dog breed for allergic people).

In terms of the physical appearance, the Chipoo usually have the curly coat of the poodle and the body size of the Chihuahua. But as earlier stated there are no guarantees regarding which traits of the parent breed will show up more in the cross so a Chipoo pup can be completely different from most other pups of the same cross.

The table below juxtaposes the general breed info of parent breeds with the known breed info of the Chipoo.